They Died with Their Boots On, Volume 3 Quiz

Answer: Julian the Apostate

Julian (331-363) was Caesar of the Western Roman Empire from 355 to 360, and Roman emperor from 361 to 363. Despite being a nephew of Constantine the Great he was noted for his rejection of Christianity; he promoted Neoplatonic Hellenism and religious tolerance in its place, which caused him to be remembered in the Christian tradition as "Julian the Apostate".

Rome had always had problems in its relationships with the Parthian and Sasasian empires in what is now Iran, for example the death of Crassus and the destruction of his army at Carrhae in 53BCE. In 363 Julian attacked the Sasanids, defeating them at Ctesiphon although failing to take and hold the capital city. Eventually supply problems forced a withdrawal to the north, but his army came under constant attack. Reaching Samarra, he heard that his rearguard was being threatened so he rode to rally them; crucially he failed to don his breastplate. Riding to pursue the fleeing Sasanids he was struck in the side by a spear; he was taken back to the Roman camp but died that night.

Julian had failed to name a successor, but eventually Jovian, the commander of Julian's domestic guard, came to be given the purple. His army was in a bad state and surrounded, so he was forced to accept humiliating terms to ensure its - and his - survival. Julian was the last non-Christian emperor of Rome.

Answer: Tostig Godwinson, Earl of Northumberland

Tostig Godwinson (1029-1066) was the third son of the Anglo-Saxon nobleman Godwin, Earl of Wessex, and the younger brother of Harold, later King Harold II. He was given the title of Earl of Northumberland in 1055 but he found ruling there very difficult; his regime was harsh and violent. By 1065 the people had had enough, and after a violent rebellion Tostig was deposed and outlawed by his brother Harold.

Moving to Scotland, he made contact with King Harald III Hardrada of Norway and persuaded him to invade England. Their two armies captured York, but Harold dashed up from London and caught them by surprise at Stamford Bridge. The battle was long and bloody, but the English had the edge; it's said that was partly because the Norwegians had earlier shed a lot of their armour owing to it being a very hot day. Eventually, with both Tostig and Hardrada killed their armies disintegrated and were virtually annihilated.

Harold celebrated his victory, but three days later William landed at Pevensey. The rest is history!

Answer: Simon de Montfort, 6th Earl of Leicester

The 13th century in England was a time of constitutional and civil crisis. The royal party - Henry III and later Edward I - were confronted by a group of powerful barons who wanted the king to rule through them, rather than through favourites. Particularly dreadful were the widespread massacres of Jews by the barons as they tried to keep their finances under control.

The leader of the barons' party was French-born Simon de Montfort, Earl of Leicester. He'd won what appeared to be a decisive victory over the Royalists at Lewes the previous year, and was also holding the King and the King's brother Richard of Cornwall in his custody. However his influence was starting to wane and he was forced to go to Llywelyn ap Gruffudd, the Prince of Wales, for help - an unpopular move.

Prince Edward laid siege to Gloucester and Simon de Montfort moved to attack him, hopefully to be joined by his son, Simon de Montfort the Younger. However Edward caught up with the latter's army at Kenilworth and attacked it, causing great losses. Edward then marched back towards Gloucester, flying many of the banners he'd captured in the fight. De Montfort was deceived into thinking that this approaching army was his son's reinforcements arriving, and Edward managed to trap de Montfort's army in a loop of the Avon. He blocked off the only bridge and so forced de Montfort to fight without his son's reinforcements.

Realising that he was on unfavourable ground and that he was outnumbered by two to one, de Montfort commented "How skillfully they are advancing. Our bodies are theirs, our souls are God's". With most of the Welsh deserting early doors the battle soon turned into a massacre. De Montfort and his son Henry were both killed, along with about 4,000 of their 5,000-strong army.

The battle ended all baronial opposition to the reign of Henry III, and the kingdom enjoyed a period of prosperity, unity and progress that lasted 30 years.

Answer: Charles II, Count of Alençon

The Hundred Years' War between England and France broke out in 1337, and in July 1340 King Edward III led an English army across the Channel to land in the Cotentin Peninsula. From there the army plundered its way northwards, heading towards Flanders to link up with an invading Flemish army. However the Flemish army retreated, so Edward was forced to make a stand against the much larger French force.

Edward prepared a defensive position, placing his troops on a hillside. The battle started with a brief archery duel between his English and Welsh longbow men and the French mercenary crossbowmen; the latter were comprehensively beaten. King Philip VI's brother, Charles II, Count of Alençon, then led the first of a number of disorganised cavalry charges by the French mounted knights. However the knights were disadvantaged by having to force their way through the fleeing crossbowmen, by the muddy ground, by having to charge uphill, by pits dug by the English, and by lethal fire from the archers. The piecemeal nature of the French attacks enabled the Edward's army to beat them off one by one.

The exhausted French knights were pulled off their horses and then proved to be easy prey for the nimble, lightly-armed English men at arms. Thousands of them were slaughtered in hand-to-hand combat that Kelly DeVries described as "murderous, without pity, cruel, and very horrible". No prisoners were taken. The French attacks went on into the night, but couldn't achieve a breakthrough.

Modern estimates put the total of English and Welsh losses at about 300; French losses were probably in the region of 12,000. The French lost most of their main commanders, including Count Charles of Alençon, Duke Rudolph of Lorraine and Count Louis of Blois; the blind King John of Bohemia was also killed.

The battle ensured English ownership of Calais but the War dragged on and on for over 100 years.

Answer: Edward, 2nd Duke of York

During the 75 years since Crecy the Hundred Years' War had been quiescent for many decades, but Henry V chose to resume hostilities. In mid-August 1415 he launched an army of about 12,000 men across the Channel with a view to besieging and taking the port of Harfleur. He was successful in this endeavour but it took much longer than anticipated, with the result that the campaign season was almost over. Henry decided to return to England but only after marching through areas that were historically English-owned, so he marched north in the direction of Calais.

His army was by now much depleted by illness. They managed to cross over the River Somme, but they were being shadowed by a much larger and better-equipped French force. On 24 October Henry settled on a place to fight a defensive battle. The English army was divided into three; the right wing was led by Edward, Duke of York, the centre by the king, and the left wing by Baron Thomas Camoys. The force was comprised by about 1,500 men-at-arms and 7,000 longbowmen. The line stretched between two woods across a recently ploughed and very muddy field with stakes planted in front of it. The French army had 10,000 men-at arms plus some 4,000 to 5,000 miscellaneous footmen including archers and crossbowmen.

On 25 October the French attacked. Within three hours their army had been destroyed by the longbowmen and the awful conditions underfoot - many knights were said to have drowned in the mud, weighed down by their armour. There was some hand-to-hand fighting; when Henry heard that his younger brother Humphrey, Duke of Gloucester, had been wounded he and his household guard stood over him until he could be dragged to safety. Seeing that Henry was in some difficulty the Duke of York came to help him but was killed in the action.

The Duke of York was the highest-ranking English casualty. Altogether the English lost about 500 men killed while the French toll was about 6,000 men killed and up to 2,200 captured. However for such a decisive battle the aftermath was confused. However by 1420, the Treaty of Troyes was signed between Henry V and Charles VI of France; this acknowledged Henry as heir to the French throne and also married him to Charles's daughter Catherine of Valois. This Treaty collapsed, however, when Henry died of dysentery while on campaign near Paris in 1422.

Answer: Henry Percy, 3rd Earl of Northumberland

In the sixth year of the Wars of the Roses on Palm Sunday 29 March 1461 and in a snowstorm, Yorkist forces commanded by King Edward IV decisively defeated the Lancastrian supporters of Henry VI. It was the bloodiest battle ever fought on English soil.

The conflict had started in 1455 when Richard, Duke of York attempted to usurp the throne from the weak, ineffectual and mentally unsound Henry VI. However Richard was killed by the Lancastrian supporters of Henry VI at Wakefield in 1460, so his son Edward proclaimed himself king. The next spring he marched north to reclaim the city of York, while the Lancastrian army marched south to meet him. The armies met at Towton.

The Earldom of Northumberland was one of the greatest landholdings in northern England, and the Earls were very prosperous and powerful, as evidenced by the great castles of Northumberland such as Alnwick and Bamburgh. Henry Percy the 2nd Earl had been killed fighting for the Lancastrian cause in the first battle of the Wars of the Roses at St Albans, but his son the 3rd Earl swore to uphold that faction. In late 1460 he led the central "battle" at the Lancastrian victory at the Battle of Wakefield, and then fought against Warwick at the second Battle of St. Albans in early 1461. At Towton he commanded the Lancastrian van.

The battle started with an archery exchange, and it immediately became apparent that the Yorkist archers were very much favoured by the strong wind blowing from behind them, propelling their arrows much further than normal. The Lancastrian archers' reply was ineffective as the wind blew snow in their faces and their arrows fell short of the Yorkist line. The Yorkist archers carried on firing, eventually forcing the Lancastrians from their position and charge the Yorkist line; the numerically inferior Yorkist army had to give ground. After about three hours' fighting, however, the Yorkist Duke of Norfolk brought up reinforcements and attacked the Lancastrian left; after many more hours' combat the Lancastrian army gave way and they were routed.

Casualties on both sides were heavy; the Yorkists lost between 3,000 and 4,500 men killed while the Lancastrians lost between 6,000 and 8,500. Included in the latter dead was Henry Percy, 3rd Earl of Northumberland.

Answer: Edward of Westminster, Prince of Wales

The Battle of Tewkesbury in 1471 was one of the most decisive in the Wars of the Roses, coming at a time when the throne had been passed back and forth between Yorkists and Lancastrians like a hot potato. Briefly, the Yorkist Edward IV had deposed the Lancastrian Henry VI in 1461, and had imprisoned his rival in the Tower. However Richard Neville, 16th Earl of Warwick and known as "Warwick the Kingmaker", had restored Henry to the throne in 1470; given that Henry's mental state was poor, this effectively made Warwick king. Edward IV fled to France, but after being funded by Charles of Burgundy he was able to land a small army in England the next year. This in turn prompted Henry VI's wife, Margaret of Anjou, and his eldest son Edward of Westminster, Prince of Wales, to flee to France.

Having secured York Edward IV marched south, gathering supporters all the way. He took London, then defeated and killed Warwick at the Battle of Barnet on Easter Day, 1471. However on the same day Margaret of Anjou and Edward the Prince of Wales landed with a small army in Weymouth. The West Country was Lancastrian territory, and with that support Margaret and Edward resolved to march north to meet up with more allies in Wales.

Edward IV marched to meet them, his objective being to prevent them crossing the Severn. Most of his force was mounted while the Lancastrian force was composed mainly of foot soldiers; this difference in marching rate, range and physical stamina resulted in Edward IV eventually bringing the Lancastrians to battle at Tewkesbury. Advancing over poor ground Edward IV's force attacked the Lancastrian line; they were better supplied with arrows and guns and started to prevail. In response the Lancastrian Duke of Somerset attacked Edward IV's right wing, but his men were driven back and many were killed. Somerset then rode up to Baron Wenlock, commander of the Lancastrian centre division, and asked him why he hadn't supported his advance; not waiting for an answer he brained Wenlock with a battle-axe. Understandably this led to a collapse in morale. The Lancastrians were routed; both armies had been of more-or-less equal size - about 6,000 men - but the Lancastrians lost about 2,000 men.

The Lancastrian army lost all three of its key commanders at Tewkesbury; Edward the Prince of Wales and the Earl of Devon were killed in action while the Duke of Somerset was captured afterwards and immediately executed.

With the death of Henry VI a few weeks later the Lancastrian royal family was rendered more-or-less extinct. The country now knew peace until Edward IV's death in 1483 and the subsequent usurpation of Richard III.

Answer: King James III

The end of the Wars of the Roses in England came about in 1487 with the defeat and death of Richard III at Bosworth Field and the accession of Henry VII. However the next year in Scotland - at that time a totally independent country - there was a rebellion against the Scottish king, James III. The rebels had made King James' 15-year-old son James, Duke of Rothesay, their figurehead.

King James had been involved in a number of skirmishes with the rebels, but by mid-May he was in Edinburgh spreading money around to buy support. He made a rapid attack on Stirling, capturing the town in early June; he then sallied forth to fight the rebels, carrying the ancient sword of Robert the Bruce as a talisman.

There are few, if any, reliable accounts of the battle that then occurred at Sauchieburn. Some authorities say that King James was thrown from his horse and killed, while others state that he was assassinated after running from the battle. Either way, his son was crowned James IV and reigned for the next 25 years. He was wracked with guilt over his involvement in his father's death, and for a penance wore an iron belt next to his skin around his waist, to which he added weights every year throughout his life. On a lighter note, the sword of Robert the Bruce - a double-handed great sword with a 44-inch blade - was recovered and is still kept by the Bruce family.

Answer: John Graham of Claverhouse, Viscount Dundee

King James II of England and Ireland and VII of Scotland was deposed by the Glorious Revolution in late 1688, being replaced by Queen Mary II and her husband King William III ruling as joint monarchs. James made a number of efforts to regain his throne, in particular by invading Ireland in early 1689 and campaigning there until he was defeated at the Battle of the Boyne in 1690.

When James landed in Ireland a Convention met in Edinburgh and offered the Scottish throne to William and Mary. James' supporters in Scotland were much fewer in number but highly motivated, so the following day Viscount Dundee raised the Scottish Royal Standard in support of James, and rallied Highland clans loyal to the cause.

The Williamite army in Scotland numbered about 4,000 and was led by General Hugh Mackay. They were marching towards Blair Castle, a strategic point controlling access to the Lowlands and occupied by Jacobite forces. Dundee learned that Mackay's force was entering the Pass of Killiecrankie, a rough track about two miles long alongside the River Garry on the left and steep hills on either side. Mackay deployed his troops in a defensive line running parallel to the track, while Dundee formed his force into columns on the slopes above. Mackay's line on his left flank fired three volleys, inflicting heavy casualties on the Highlanders, but many men in the centre fled due to the force and ferocity of the Highlanders' charge. Part of the problem was the use by the Williamite army of the new "plug" bayonets, which fitted into the muzzles of their muskets; this of course meant that firing them was no longer possible.

Williamite casualties were about 1,700 to 2,000 men killed, wounded and missing of the approximately 4,000 engaged, while Jacobite casualties were about 700 killed and wounded of the approximately 2,750 engaged. Disastrously for the Jacobite cause, however, was the fact that Dundee was shot through the head by a musket ball in a volley by MacKay's regiment. So despite the engagement being an absolute - if costly - victory for the Jacobite cause and a heavy defeat for the Williamites, the death of the their inspirational commander meant that the rebellion soon petered out.

Answer: Major-General James Wolfe

The mid-18th century was a time of war throughout Europe between the great powers, with significant action also being seen in America and Asia. The main combatants in the Seven Years' War (1756 to 1763) were an alliance of Great Britain and Prussia versus France and Austria, with other countries like Portugal, Spain, Saxony, Sweden, and Russia joining in.

The war in America (or the French and Indian War, as it's referred to in the US) focused mainly upon British attempts to oust the French from Canada, the Great Lakes and the Mississippi River basin. The year 1759 - the so-called "Annus Mirabilis" - became a year of British victories, starting in June when James Wolfe set up camp on the Île d'Orléans across the St. Lawrence River from Quebec and so started the three-month siege of the heavily-fortified city that ensued.

The French commander, the Marquis de Montcalm, was secure and receiving supplies. Eventually Wolfe decided to block Montcalm's supply route from Montreal by landing his force to the west of Quebec. His army ascended the steep cliffs rising from the river bank - fortunately not under surveillance - and set up a line of battle on the Plains of Abraham. Montcalm's response was ill-advised and precipitous; not waiting for reinforcements to arrive from the city he attacked Wolfe's line immediately. But his soldiers were unable to withstand the volley fire of the British and were quickly routed. Wolfe was shot twice and died quickly (but not before learning that his army was victorious); Montcalm was also struck by a musket ball and died the next day.

Within days of being defeated in battle the French capitulated and never regained control of Quebec. Under the terms of the Treaty of Paris in 1763 they ceded most of their possessions in Canada and Louisiana to the British.

Answer: Lieutenant-General Sir Ralph Abercromby

In 1798 Napoleon Bonaparte led an expeditionary force to Egypt, aiming to expand French influence and to undermine Britain's trade routes to its colonial holdings in India. He defeated the ruling Mamluks at the Battle of the Pyramids and occupied Cairo, but the campaign was compromised by Nelson's destruction of the French fleet at Aboukir Bay which cut off Bonaparte's supply route from France. A year after his arrival in Egypt he returned to France to seize political power, leaving behind an army that was struggling to maintain control.

British and Ottoman forces led by General Sir Ralph Abercromby arrived in Egypt early in 1801. Marching along the coast towards Cairo they were confronted on 20 March by a French force of roughly similar size, so Abercromby prepared for battle with his right flank resting on the sea and the ruins of Nicopolis, and his left flank on the shore of Lake Abukir. The French attacked in the early hours of 21 March but they suffered high casualties on their left flank. A brave cavalry charge by the French then brought them within a whisker of a breakthrough, but their commanding General was killed when the charge was halted by the obstacles encountered when it met the British encampment. Meanwhile Abercromby was fatally wounded when he was shot in the thigh in this action; he died a few days later. The fighting died down by mid-morning, leaving the British victorious; their death toll was about 240 compared to the French total of about 1,000. The efficacy of British volley firing was particularly noted.

The French surrendered at Fort Julien in April, Cairo fell in June and Alexandria in September. The British General Hely-Hutchinson allowed the French army to be repatriated in British ships. The French commander also gave up to Britain all the Egyptian antiquities that the French had collected, including the Rosetta Stone.

Answer: Lieutenant-Colonel Anthony William Durnford

The British government had instigated the setting-up of the Confederation of Canada, and it was thought that a similar plan might succeed in South Africa. In 1877 Sir Henry Bartle Frere, the High Commissioner for Southern Africa, was tasked with the facilitation of a similar scheme in that area. Perhaps naively his plan paid little attention to the existence of the independent states of the South African Republic and the Kingdom of Zululand, both of which would have to be overcome by military force. Even worse, without the British government's approval Bartle Frere had issued the Zulu king Cetshwayo with a totally unacceptable ultimatum, set to expire in a month. With the ultimatum's expiry, Bartle Frere ordered Lord Chelmsford to follow already-developed plans to invade Zululand.

Chelmsford attacked during the rainy season, and was progressing at about a mile a day. He'd divided his forces into three columns, taking command of the 4,000-strong centre column himself. Massively over-confident, he set up a camp at Isandlwana on 20 January but failed to entrench or laager it. When on 22 January his scouts reported the presence of Zulus in the area he took two-thirds of his force to bring them to battle; the remaining third was left in the camp. Chelmsford did not realise that the Zulus his scouts had seen were actually diverting his force away from the main Zulu battle group. Chelmsford had been outmanoeuvred by the 20,000-man Zulu army, which was now behind him.

The totally inexperienced Brevet Lieutenant-Colonel Henry Burmester Pulleine was left in charge of the camp, until Lieutenant-Colonel Anthony William Durnford arrived and took command as senior officer at the scene. Scouts from Durnford's command then found the Zulu army hiding in a valley, and had to make a fighting retreat back to the camp. The Zulus attacked the camp and despite a strong resistance eventually surrounded it. The British were armed with the modern Martini-Henry breechloading rifle but they were greatly outnumbered. After a prolonged battle their ammunition was exhausted and it developed into a hand-to-hand struggle - or rather, a bayonet-to-assegai one.

The British lost 1,300 killed - including both Pulleine and Durnford - while the Zulus lost perhaps as many as 3,000 killed. Near the end of the battle a group of some 4,000 Zulus were detached and sent to lunch an attack upon the mission station at Rorke's Drift, which failed. The British army in South Africa was then heavily reinforced and mounted a second invasion of Zululand. Sir Garnet Wolseley was sent to relieve Chelmsford and Bartle Frere, but Chelmsford avoided giving up his command to Wolseley and went on to defeat the Zulus and capture Cetshwayo. Bartle Frere was recalled in August 1880 and the policy of Confederation was abandoned, but the British government used a "divide and rule" policy to empower Zulu sub-kings at the expense of Cetshwayo. By the time he was released and allowed to go home the Zulu Kingdom had ceased to exist as an independent entity.

Answer: Rear Admiral Miguel Grau Seminario

The War of the Pacific was fought between Chile and a Bolivian-Peruvian alliance from 1879 to 1884. The main cause of the conflict were Chilean claims on Bolivian territory in the Atacama Desert which was a major source of nitrates. The war was eventually won by Chile, which gained a large amount of resource-rich territory from Peru and Bolivia.

At the commencement of hostilities the Chilean navy had the sole aim of destroying the Peruvian fleet. In the first action at Iquique on 21 May 1879 the Peruvian commander, Rear Admiral Miguel Grau Seminario on board the ironclad monitor "Huáscar", accompanied by the armored frigate "Independencia", sunk a Chilean corvette. However the "Independencia" ran aground while attempting to ram another Chilean vessel and had to be destroyed. After this action Grau settled on a harassment policy, aimed at causing as much damage as possible to Chilean resources without having to engage in an all-out battle.

However the Chilean navy caught up with the "Huáscar" at Punta Angamos on 8 October. The "Almirante Cochrane", using armour-piercing shells, fired at the "Huáscar" for almost two hours, during which time Grau was killed. The ""Blanco Encalada" then joined in the attack, and after another hour or so's shelling the "Huáscar" was boarded and captured. The result of this engagement facilitated the Chilean invasion of Peru and the further campaigns leading to the fall of Lima in January 1881.

I would never had heard of this battle and the wider conflict in South America if the Peruvian Navy's four-masted training sailing ship had not visited Liverpool in August 2025. Grau is an iconic figure in Peruvian naval history and is renowned for his chivalrous treatment of defeated enemies, for example by picking up survivors of sunken enemy ships. The "Huáscar" was built by Laird Brothers in Birkenhead, hence the visit of the Peruvian training vessel to Liverpool; after its capture at Angamos it was repaired and served under the Chilean flag until it was decommissioned. It's now a floating museum in the port of Talcahuano.

Answer: Brigadier-General Sir John Edmond Gough VC

John Gough (1871-1915) came from an army family; both his father and his uncle held VC's earned during the Indian Mutiny in 1857. He was commissioned in the Rifle Brigade in March 1892, and served in Sudan, Crete and in the Second Boer War. In 1903 he was awarded a VC after helping in a rescue attempt while under fire in action in British Somaliland.

He went to France with the British Expeditionary Force in August 1914 as chief-of-staff to Douglas Haig, but in February 1915 he was chosen to command one of the British New Army divisions to take charge in March. On 20 February, however, he was in the front line visiting former Rifle Brigade comrades at Fauquissart, near Neuve Chapelle, when he was hit in the abdomen by a German bullet which mortally wounded him; he died two days later.

Had he lived, Gough would almost certainly have risen to a very senior rank in the army. He became well-known for a remark he made in November 1914. He was watching German troops swarming over a low ridge when one of his staff said the fight was decided. Gough turned to him and said "God will never let those devils win".

Answer: Lieutenant General Simon Bolivar Buckner Jr.

Lieutenant General Simon Bolivar Buckner Jr. (1886-1945) was the son of Confederate general Simon Bolivar Buckner. He saw no action during World War I, and spent the years between the wars serving in military schools. In 1940 he was appointed to command the Alaska Defense Command, and led that group during the Aleutian Islands campaign, he was then promoted to lead the Tenth Army as it prepared for the invasion of Okinawa.

The invasion took place on 1 April. Buckner insisted that his troops made frontal assaults on the dug-in Japanese; this proved costly but ultimately successful. On 18 June he was visiting a forward observation post on a ridge about 300 yards behind the front line when a Japanese artillery shell hit a coral rock outcrop near him, and fragments of this pierced his chest; he died later that day.

Buckner was the highest-ranking United States military officer lost to enemy fire during World War II.